ADB OKs $100-M loan for Philippines’ techvoc training upgrade

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Tuesday it has approved a $100-million loan to modernize and upgrade the Philippines’ technical and vocational education training (TVET) system.

In a statement, the ADB said the loan program will make the country’s TVET system “more responsive to new labor demands from industries and equip Filipinos with skills for the future.”

The multilateral lender said that through the Supporting Innovation in the Philippine Technical and Vocational Education and Training System Project, it will help in improving training facilities and equipment in 17 selected technology institutions across the country to transform them into industry-responsive innovation centers.

The ADB said it will also assist in designing new training courses, reskilling and upskilling of trainers, and strengthening the institutional capacity of the government’s Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

“Industries have become increasingly globalized and are now driven by technological innovations and the rising knowledge economy amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which in turn is creating a skills mismatch in the Philippines,” said ADB senior public management economist Sameer Khatiwada.

“Automation and digitization, which have been underway even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, are being accelerated by the pandemic shock and are raising the demand in the labor market for new expertise, such as digital and cognitive skills,” said Khatidwada.

The ADB economist said TVET reform has become more urgent to raise the skills and employability of Filipino youth and returning migrant workers “so they can compete for highly skilled jobs in the post-COVID-19 economy.”

The ADB said the loan project will support TESDA in forging partnerships among the 17 selected TESDA technology institutions and industry associations, local government units, education institutions, and nongovernment organizations active in training and curriculum, as well as livelihood development.

Regional TVET innovation centers that will offer higher national certificate level courses and programs will be created under the project, according to the lender.

It added the innovation centers and technology institutions will focus on the economic needs and labor demands of their respective provinces and priority sectors as listed in the National Technical Education and Skills Development Plan 2018–2022.—AOL, GMA Integrated News